The present invention relates generally to biometrics, and relates more particularly facial distortion techniques, for example as used in facial recognition applications.
Biometrics refers to the measurement of physical or behavioral traits of humans, often targeted towards the goal of verifying or determining personal identity. Biometric characteristics provide a more reliable alternative for establishing identity than personal identification numbers (PINs) or passwords, which can easily be stolen. However, biometric characteristics are not as secure or as private as PINs and passwords, because biometric signatures cannot be revoked or canceled if compromised. Thus, rogue establishments can use biometric signatures to track a subject (person) across databases and institutions without the knowledge or consent of the subject.
Efforts to combine biometric-based authentication with password-based privacy and security have been promising, but have not been without their drawbacks. For example, typical encryption-based biometric authentication techniques are sensitive to variability and noise in the input biometric space. Moreover, techniques that encrypt features extracted from input biometrics tend to be specific to the features used, and thus may not be able to easily exploit developing technology.
Thus, there is a need in the art for a method and apparatus for repeatable facial distortion that is secure and cancelable.